If one day you can’t read your friend:
Not a friend, not a foe, just so...
If you’re trying to comprehend:
Is he decent or bad?

To the peaks you should flee with him,
Do not leave him alone at home,
Roped together with you he’ll risk,
Then you’ll learn who he is.

If your buddy did not act strong,
If he tried to backtrack from crags,
On the glacier he fell and yelled,
Then it’s easy to tell:

There’s a stranger with you, for sure.
Him you must not reprove, just move.
You do not take his kind to climb,
And of them we don’t chant.

If you friend did not cry or whine,
If he ranted and talked but walked,
And when you took a fall and called,
He did groan but held on,

If he followed you as to war,
Stood elated with joy on the top,
Then as much as you trust yourself,
You should trust in your friend.